Rotary pump mechanism



Feb. 4, 1930. M. E. LAYNE ROTARY PUMP MECHANISM Filed May 1925 attocwegy Patented Feb. 4, 1930 MAHLON E. LAYNE, F HOUSTON, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR T0 LAYNE & BOWLER CORPQRA- TIQN, DE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION CALEORNIA IBJQTAEY PUMP MECHANISM Application filed may 4,

This invention relates to rotary pump mechanism of the type in which the pump proper is suspended in a well such as a water well and driven by an electric motor axially aligned with the pump and disposed at the top of the well.

Heretofore, rotary or centrifugal pump ing mechanism of the above type have been generally provided with flexible couplings for connecting the vertically extending pump shaft of the pump proper to the shaft of the electric motor disposed at the top of the well for driving the pump. This construction necessitates the electric motor being mounted a considerable distance above the discharge head of the pumping apparatus in order to provide room for handlin tongs I and wrenches in adjusting the flexible coupling, and requires that the impeller shaft of of the pump and its hydraulic load be provided with separate thrust hearings from the thrust bearings employed for supporting the thrust of the rotor of the electric driving motor.

Tn my copending application filed /lay 8, 1923, Serial No. 537,487, T have described a rotary pump mechanism by which T have been enabled to avoid the necessity employing flexible couplings between the im- 39 peller shaft and the rotor of motor through the provision of an electric motor having a hollow rotor through which the impeller shaft is permitted to pass. By this construction, the impeller shaft and its load 5 may be supported upon the same thrust bearp ings as those utilized for supporting the thrust load of the electric motor and the impeller shaft of the mechanism. may be vertically or longitudinally adjusted to center the impellers of the pump from above the electric motor. k

lit is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary pump mechanism in which the rotary pump is connected with an axially aligned electric motor without the necessity of employing either a flexible coupling or air electric motor of the hollow shaft type. More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary pump mechanism in which the rotor of the mechea. Serial no. 21sec.

anism is mounted rigidly upon the impeller shafi of the pump so. that the rotor of the motor, impeller shaft and impellers of the pump are, in use, one rigid unit,

Heretofore, the provision of such a rotary pumping mechanism has presented a dimcult problem and one which it is not believed has been accomplished due to the following problems to be encountered. First, a rotary pump mechanism of the type to which this 50 invention relates should be provided with means by which the position of the impellers of the pump can be adjusted in order that these impellers may be properly centered in the pump proper. This requires provision for a vertical or longitudinal adjustment of the impeller shaft which, if rigidly connected with the rotor of the electric motor, would cause the position of the rotor to be altered in the stator. This dificulty has been overcome by the rotary pump mechanism of this invention through the provision of a character of electric motor construction and mounting permitting such a vertical adjustment, in the preferred form of the invention, by vertical adjustment of the entire electric motor. Second, the construction of such an apparatus that could be practically assembled and dissassembled presented a problem which hasheretoi ore not been solved in a practical 89 way.

The rotary pump mechanism or" this invention is provided with certain novel means by which the assembling and dissassembling of the. apparatus may be readily affected. Where the rotor of an electric motor is mounted rigidly upon the impeller shaft the electric motor must be accurately axially aligned with the impeller shaft in order to properly operate in use. This is provided 90 for in the rotary pump mechanism of this invention by the vprovision of machined hearing surfaces between the stands of the electric motor and discharge head of the pump mechanism; adapted to automatically bring the motor into predetermined position, and by the provision of machined bearing surfaces between the discharge head and the supporting or base member of the mechanism for centering the discharge head in proper posi- 1 tion relative to the axis of the impeller shaft.

.is generally indicated at 2.

Various other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from a description of a preferred form of rotary pump mechanism embodying the invention, for which purpose reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which the rotary pump mechanism is illustrated in its preferred form.

In the drawing, the mechanism is illustrated in elevation, the pump being mainly in longitudinal or vertical section.

In the drawing, the rotary pump proper uch pump may include one or more stages 3 which are adapted to draw water in through inlet pipe 4 connected to the bottom of the pump 2 and discharge the water through a discharge casing 5 extending to the top of the wall.

The pump 2 is indicated as suspended within a well hole provided with a well casing 6. The discharge casing 5 of the pump serves to suspend the pump proper in the well and extends vertically to the top of the well where w it is connected with a casing head 7 which may have the usual laterally disposed discharge neck 8. This discharge head 8 is I mounted upon a supporting or base member 9 having an annular tapered bearing surface 10 engagingthree tapered surfaces 11 formed on the lower side of the discharge head 7 at points equally spaced relative to the axis of the pump mechanism so that by such threepoint contact between the discharge head 7 of the mechanism and the base 9, the rotary pump mechanism in use will automatically assume a position in which the impeller shaft of the pump is suspended in true vertical position.

Each of the stages or housings 3 of the pump proper encloses a rotary impeller 12. only one of which is shown in the drawing, which rotary impellers or runners are keyed upon an operating or impeller shaft 13. This shaft extends vertically from the pump 2 to the top of the Well, passing concentrically through the discharge casing 5, and in practice may be built up, as usual, of a number of sections of pipe suitably coupled together. Preferably, the impeller shaft 13 is enclosed from water in the discharge pipe 5 by a shaft enclosing casing14, which casing likewise is usually constructed in a plurality of sections coupled together. These couplings, one of which is indicated at 15, likewise serve as bearings for the impeller shaft 13.

provided with an inturned flange 36, the inner edge of which is machined to a true circle and made to fit an upturned annular flange 37 on the upper side of the discharge head 7, the flange 37 having its outer face machined to a true circle concentric with the axis of the impeller shaft 13. The discharge head 7 for the purpose of assembly, as will be later apparent, is made of novel construction in that the lower wall 40 of the discharge head is made detachable and on the interfitting faces of the portion 40 and the remainder of the head are provided machined surfaces 41 0 1(I11S11I'6 proper assembly of the discharge The portion 40 of the discharge head provides a collar portion 42 extending downward a sufficient distance to permit of a connection between the discharge head and... the discharge pipe 5 at two vertically spacedapart points which will insure that the pump proper and the discharge casing 5 will not be twisted out of alignment with the axis of the motor 16, the upper end of the discharge casing 5 being screw-threaded as indicated at 43 to the discharge head 7, and the lower end of the collar-like extension 42 then being made tight with the confronting portion of the discharge head bypacking 44.

The rotor 18 of the electric motor is illustrated as keyed upon an enlargement 20 of the impeller shaft so that this rotor, impeller shaft and impellers are one rigid unit in the mechanism. By this construction, both the longitudinal thrust of the rotor and impeller shaft and the radial load may be taken upon the same bearing or bearings.

In order for proper operation of the rotor 18, it has been found that such rotor should be provided with a thrust bearing disposed above the rotor, in which position said bearing causes the motor to operate as a plumbbob with little vibration or weaving tendency, and accordingly the upper end of the impeller shaft 13 is provided with a collar 23 mounting the shaft 13. The rotor 18 and impellers 12 are mounted upon a combined radial and thrust bearing 22 illustrated as of the ball type, although it is understood that various types of bearings may be employed without departing from the invention. The collar 23 is held on the sh aft 13 by a nut 24 threaded to the end of the shaft.

The bearing 22 of the mechanism is mounted in a cup-shaped lubricant reservoir 21 formed integrally with the cover 20 of the electric motor 16. 25 indicates an oil retaining sleeve extending from the bottom of such reservoir 21 to above the surface of the hearing 22, in order that the bearing may operate in a bath of lubricant.

manta? A bearing 26 disposed within the discharge head 7 of the mechanism acts as a lower radial bearing for the rotor 18 of the electric motor.

No other radial bearings are required in the mechanism between the rotor and discharge head. This lower radial bearing 26 is thus.

ing casing 14. This casing member 27 is enlarged internally at 28 so as to accommodate a coupling 29 between the upper section of the impeller shaft and the remainder of the impeller shaft. This-coupling 29, as illustrated, is provided with a recess or groove 30 for a purpose hereinafter pointed out. @pposite the coupling 29' the casing head provides a hollow web 31 extending radially to the side wall of the casing head where the web is normally maintained closed by a plug 32 screw-threaded thereto. The shaft encloslng casing 14: is illustrated as provided nearv its upper end with an arm adapted to engage a block or key 46 secured to the inner wall of the discharge casing 5, thereby providing a means for holding the shaft enclosing casing i l during the assembling and disasssembling operations, .1 as hereinafter pointed out.

The annular flange 37 provided at the top of the casing head 7 serves also to provide a lubricant reservoir 3& to maintain a lubricant supply for hearing 26, this reservoir being provided with a cover 35. The inturned flange 36 of the stand 17 of the electric motor also serves to mount jaclr screws 38 by which the vertical position of the electric motor may be adjusted. Three of such jack screws are normally provided spaced at equally spaced points from the axis of the impeller shaft 13 and engage at their lower end the top of the discharge head 7. In addition to the jack screws 38, the lower end of the stand 17 is square threaded to an adjusting ring 37 likewise mounted upon the top of the discharge head or casing head 7.

The rotary pump mechanism thus described may be adjusted for centering the impellers 12 carried on the impeller shaft 13 through the vertical adjustment of the bearings 22 supporting the shaft, this being accompanled, in the preferred form of the invention by a vertical adjustment of the entire electric motor. This adjustment is preferably accomplished in the following manner: By use of jack screws 38, the electric motor is raised and lowered upon the stand 17 until the 1mpellers 12 are centered in the pump 2 and work freely. The ring 37 is then turned t ght upon the discharge head 7 so that the ack screws 38 may be backed ofi without altering the adjustment just efiected, and then the entire tonnage permitted to rest upon the ring, the motor being accurately aligned with the axis of the impeller shaft through the complemental surfaces of flanges 36 and 37 of the stand 17 and head 7 respectively.

The rotary pump mechanism may be readily assembled and disassembled due to the provision of the grooved coupling 29 oppog site the hollow web31, and the provision of the discharge head 7 partable at its lower end in the following manner: The pump proper is first installed in the well with the discharge casing 5 being supported on the lower section 40 of the discharge head, the same resting on the base 9. The collar 29 is then threaded I on the impeller shaft in the proper operating position. The upper portion of the discharge head 7 with the motor mounted thereon is then lowered into place and the discharge casing bolted together. The contact between the lower end of the upper section of the impeller shaft and the coupling 29 will cause the upper section of the shaft to be forced upwardly in the motor, together with the rotor 18.

The-construction of the upper cover member of the motor leaves room for such upward motion of the rotor. Prior to this operation, the jack screws are adjusted to maintain the motor stand and stator up ,a suficient distance to make up properly with the pump shaft. These ack screws 38 are then lowered motor to work closer to the pump head 7, thus providing a more compact structure, less in clineol to get out of operating order, and pro- Nil vldes a rotary pump mechanism in which flexible couplings may be eliminated and by which the number of bearings required is materially decreased, and the apparatus readily assembled and disassembled.

While the specific form of the invention herein described is well adapted for accomplishing the purposes and objects of the invention, it is to be understood that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles of the invention, and the invention is therefore not limited to the specific rotary pump mechanism described for the purposes of illustrating the invention, but the invention is capable of numerous modifications, all of which come within the scope of the appended claims.

What If claim is of April, 1925.

1. In a rotary pump mechanism, the combination with a rotary pump, of an electric motor axially aligned with the impeller shaft of the pump and connected thereto, a discharge casing suspending the pump, a casing head connected to the discharge casing, and a threaded ring mounted upon the casing head and supporting the electric motor for vertically adjusting the position of the electric motor. I

2. In a rotary pump mechanism, the combination of a rotary pump having a discharge casing, a casing head' connected to the discharge casing, an electric motor supported over the casing head axially aligned with the impeller shaft of the pump and having its rotor mounted thereon, a threaded ring mounted upon the casing head and supporting said-motor and serving as a means by which the motor may be longitudinally adjusted, a bearing for the impeller shaft supported on the motor above its rotor, and means providing disconnection of said shaft at a point below said rotor, walls providing a chamber for enclosing said disconnecting means, walls interconnecting the said last mentioned walls with the side walls of the casing head providing a radially extending passage between the exterior of said discharge head and said chamber for the reception of a coupling tool.

3. In rotary pump mechanism: a discharge head supporting the well structure of the pump; a motor mounted on said discharge head; an impeller shaft extending through said well structure, said discharge head and said motor, the rotor of said motor being mounted on said impeller shaft; thrust bearings at the top of said motor for suspending said impeller shaft; and a threaded ring operative between said motor and said dis-' charge head for determining the vertical position of said motor relative to said discharge head.

Signed at Los Angeles, Calif, this 27 day MAHLON E. LAYNE. 

